diff --git a/kittens/tui/operations.py b/kittens/tui/operations.py
index e85c85741..e7ce684f9 100644
--- a/kittens/tui/operations.py
+++ b/kittens/tui/operations.py
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ def colored(text, color, intense=False, reset_to=None, reset_to_intense=False):
     return '\033[{}m{}\033[{}m'.format(e, text, 39 if reset_to is None else color_code(reset_to, reset_to_intense))
 
 
+def faint(text):
+    return colored(text, 'black', True)
+
+
 def styled(text, fg=None, bg=None, fg_intense=False, bg_intense=False, italic=None, bold=None, underline=None, underline_color=None, reverse=None):
     start, end = [], []
     if fg is not None:
diff --git a/kittens/unicode_input/main.py b/kittens/unicode_input/main.py
index e64c77835..2515f49cd 100644
--- a/kittens/unicode_input/main.py
+++ b/kittens/unicode_input/main.py
@@ -21,13 +21,20 @@ from kitty.key_encoding import (
 from ..tui.handler import Handler
 from ..tui.loop import Loop
 from ..tui.operations import (
-    clear_screen, color_code, colored, cursor, set_line_wrapping,
+    clear_screen, color_code, colored, cursor, faint, set_line_wrapping,
     set_window_title, sgr, styled
 )
 
 HEX, NAME, EMOTICONS, FAVORITES = 'HEX', 'NAME', 'EMOTICONS', 'FAVORITES'
 favorites_path = os.path.join(config_dir, 'unicode-input-favorites.conf')
 INDEX_CHAR = '.'
+DEFAULT_SET = tuple(map(
+    ord,
+    '‘’“”‹›«»‚„' '😀😛😇😈😉😍😎😮👍👎' '—–§¶†‡©®™' '→⇒•·°±−×÷¼½½¾'
+    '…µ¢£€¿¡¨´¸ˆ˜' 'ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊË' 'ÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖØ' 'ŒŠÙÚÛÜÝŸÞßàá' 'âãäåæçèéêëìí'
+    'îïðñòóôõöøœš' 'ùúûüýÿþªºαΩ∞'
+))
+EMOTICONS_SET = tuple(range(0x1f600, 0x1f64f + 1))
 
 
 def codepoint_ok(code):
@@ -108,16 +115,6 @@ def load_favorites(refresh=False):
     return ans
 
 
-FAINT = 242
-DEFAULT_SET = tuple(map(
-    ord,
-    '‘’“”‹›«»‚„' '😀😛😇😈😉😍😎😮👍👎' '—–§¶†‡©®™' '→⇒•·°±−×÷¼½½¾'
-    '…µ¢£€¿¡¨´¸ˆ˜' 'ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊË' 'ÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖØ' 'ŒŠÙÚÛÜÝŸÞßàá' 'âãäåæçèéêëìí'
-    'îïðñòóôõöøœš' 'ùúûüýÿþªºαΩ∞'
-))
-EMOTICONS_SET = tuple(range(0x1f600, 0x1f64f + 1))
-
-
 def encode_hint(num, digits=string.digits + string.ascii_lowercase):
     res = ''
     d = len(digits)
@@ -177,7 +174,7 @@ class Table:
                     yield ' ' * (2 - w)
                 if len(desc) > space_for_desc:
                     desc = desc[:space_for_desc - 1] + '…'
-                yield colored(desc, FAINT)
+                yield faint(desc)
                 extra = space_for_desc - len(desc)
                 if extra > 0:
                     yield ' ' * extra
@@ -323,7 +320,7 @@ class UnicodeInput(Handler):
         else:
             c, color = self.current_char, 'green'
             self.choice_line = _('Chosen:') + ' {} U+{} {}'.format(
-                colored(c, 'green'), hex(ord(c))[2:], styled(name(c) or '', italic=True, fg=FAINT))
+                colored(c, 'green'), hex(ord(c))[2:], faint(styled(name(c) or '', italic=True)))
         self.prompt = self.prompt_template.format(colored(c, color))
 
     def init_terminal_state(self):
@@ -375,11 +372,11 @@ class UnicodeInput(Handler):
             writeln()
             writeln(self.choice_line)
             if self.mode is HEX:
-                writeln(styled(_('Type {} followed by the index for the recent entries below').format(INDEX_CHAR), fg=FAINT))
+                writeln(faint(_('Type {} followed by the index for the recent entries below').format(INDEX_CHAR)))
             elif self.mode is NAME:
-                writeln(styled(_('Use Tab or the arrow keys to choose a character from below'), fg=FAINT))
+                writeln(faint(_('Use Tab or the arrow keys to choose a character from below')))
             elif self.mode is FAVORITES:
-                writeln(styled(_('Press F12 to edit the list of favorites'), fg=FAINT))
+                writeln(faint(_('Press F12 to edit the list of favorites')))
             self.table_at = y
             self.write(self.table.layout(self.screen_size.rows - self.table_at, self.screen_size.cols))
 
diff --git a/kittens/url_hints/main.py b/kittens/url_hints/main.py
index 3a31f7731..68a170a10 100644
--- a/kittens/url_hints/main.py
+++ b/kittens/url_hints/main.py
@@ -14,12 +14,11 @@ from kitty.utils import read_with_timeout
 
 from ..tui.handler import Handler
 from ..tui.loop import Loop
-from ..tui.operations import clear_screen, colored, set_window_title, styled
+from ..tui.operations import clear_screen, faint, set_window_title, styled
 
 Mark = namedtuple('Mark', 'index start end text')
 URL_PREFIXES = 'http https file ftp'.split()
 HINT_ALPHABET = string.digits + string.ascii_lowercase
-FAINT = 242
 
 
 @lru_cache(maxsize=2048)
@@ -39,9 +38,6 @@ def decode_hint(x):
 def render(lines, current_input):
     ans = []
 
-    def faint(text):
-        return colored(text, FAINT)
-
     def mark(m):
         hint = encode_hint(m.index)
         text = m.text